BA cancellation: rebooking outside ticket validity window

[sb]

Looking to see if anyone here has any experience of this..

Booked return flights to Geneva April 2021 on BA for the family (booking was made in Nov 2020).
BA cancelled just outside 14 days by e-mail with a “manage my booking” link to choose cancellation/rebooking/FTV etc.

I chose not to rebook or reclaim a refund or anything at the time as we hadn’t decided what we wanted to to re rebooking or refund.

I called BA gold line last week to rebook to Feb 2022. They said the tickets were outside the validity window (which was 12 months from booking i.e. Nov 2021). I said I wanted to exercise EU261 rights to rebook at my convenience (article 8.1.c) – the rules as drafted give no time limit. The agent said his system couldn’t do it but I should complain.

So I submitted a complaint and got a reply in under a week, saying they couldn’t rebook outside ticket validity and now could only get a refund. I’ve disputed their view once again but wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this.

I note that others seem to have had success in BA backing down on this but only when going legal (see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2044931-eu261-cedr-upholds-right-rerouting-outside-ticket-validity.html)

Does anyone have any experience of getting BA to agree nicely and if so, how. Or indeed has anyone else got them to agree either in arbitration or successfully reclaimed replacement flight costs where they haven’t complied. Or lost when trying!

Many thanks

[Lady London]

If you research the headforpoints website doing an external site search in google you will see this commented every 2 or 3 days or so in the Daily Chat thread. If you do it by time then, say, last Sept and October Daily Chats as that’s after BA reneged after having done the right thing around June or so for a very few weeks.

I’d just get them to confirm this is their final answer if they are being stupid again, give them only 14 days to provide your desired reroutng or you’ll take legal action, and mcol them on Day 15. Address the LBA to BA Legal at their Waterside address and make sure of proof of receipt ( you claim that cost and the small mcol fee back).

If you believe there is intelligent life there that isn’t just out to bully people and wear them down when they claim their EU261 rights then you can give them 21 or even 30 days in the letter.